Corpun file 19382

New York Times, 11 June 1910

Forced to Whip Her Son.

Mother Put it Off Till Court Threatened to Send Him Away.

After being warned by Justice Olmsted four times that she had the alternative of giving corporal punishment to her fifteen-year-old son, Abraham, or having him sent to the Jewish Protectory, Mrs. Esther Liberman of 237 East 102d Street decided on the punishment. To judge from the boy's howls when he returned to court after the spanking, it will be a long time before he will put his mother in a similar predicament.

Last Tuesday the boy was in court for the first time. On Monday night his brother was arrested by Patrolman Lerocker of the East 104th Street Police Station. While on the way to the station house Abraham attempted to rescue his brother, who had been making a disturbance in the streets. As soon as Lerocker got the brother to the station house, he returned for the younger delinquent, who the policeman said used improper language to him.

On Tuesday, when he was in the Children's Court, Justice Olmsted told his mother he would send the boy to the Jewish Protectory unless she consented to give him a thrashing. Twice the mother and boy went to an adjoining room for this purpose, and on each occasion they returned without the necessary punishment having been inflicted. Justice Olmsted adjourned the case till to-day, and the boy was sent to the Gerry society.

The Justice gave the woman the same alternative yesterday, but after she returned with the boy still unwhipped the court reprimanded her and gave her another chance. She wanted to pay a fine, but the court would not allow this.

The fourth occasion brought the required result and, bellowing like a bull, the boy promised never to use bad language again, and sentence was suspended on him.